BLAZING A NEW
FRONTIER
Thomas Jefferson's Grand Idea
. . . Lewis and Clark's Great Adventure
". . . the object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication
with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river, may offer the most direct and
practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce . . ."
By the time Jefferson was ready to request funds for the expedition, his relationship with the opposition in Congress was anything but friendly.
Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin urged that the request be made in secret.
The message focused on the state of Indian trade and mentioned the proposed western expedition near the end of the document.
ROSTER OF THE MENROSTER OF THE MEN
Manifestof Supplies
Presents for Indians:•12 dozen pocket mirrors
•4,600 sewing needles •144 small scissors •10 pounds of sewing thread •silk ribbons •ivory combs •handkerchiefs •yards of bright-colored cloth •130 rolls of tobacco •tomahawks that doubled as pipes •288 knives •8 brass kettles •vermilion face paint •33 pounds of tiny beads
Drawing & Notes for Keel Boat
KEEL BOATKEEL BOAT
St. Louis: The Town as Seen by Lewis and Clark
—William Clark
April 7, 1805April 7, 1805“We were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden,” Lewis wrote…
Pipe tomahawkPipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America--created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as diplomatic gifts.
They are powerful symbols of the choice Europeans and Indians faced whenever they met: one end was the pipe of peace, the other an axe of war.
Lewis's expedition packing list notes that fifty pipe tomahawks were to be taken on the expedition.
JEFFERSON PEACE MEDAL
Lewis was frustrated by the egalitarian nature of Indian society: "the authority of the Chief being nothing more than mere admonition . . . in fact every man is a chief." He set out to change that by "making chiefs." He passed out medals, certificates, and uniforms to give power to chosen men.
In their speeches, Lewis and Clark called the Indians "children." To explorers, the term expressed the relationship of ruler and subject.
In their speeches, the Indians called Lewis and Clark "father,“... To them, it expressed kinship and their assumption that an adoptive father undertook an obligation to show generosity and loyalty to his new family.
In all the captains would describe in their journals 178 plants and 122 animals that previously had not been recorded for science.
"We shall delineate with correctness the great arteries of this great country: those who come after
us will . . . fill up the canvas we begin."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1805
AUGUST 12, 1805AUGUST 12, 1805
Lewis ascends the final ridge toward the Continental Divide and
“the most distant fountain of waters of the Mighty Missouri in search of which we have spent so many toilsome days”
-he expects to see a vast plain to the west with a large river flowing to the Pacific: the Northwest Passage that had been the goal of the explorers since the time of Columbus.
Instead, all he sees are more mountains…
“This Mtn. is covered with Snow...and is of a Conical form but rugid.”—Capt. William Clark
November 3, 1805
Mt. Hood in the distance…
Proof they are at last approaching the ocean
“Ocian in view! O! the joy.”—Capt. William Clark
November 7, 1805
NOVEMBER 7, 1805NOVEMBER 7, 1805
Clark writes his most famous journal entry:
“Ocian in view! O! the joy,”
They are actually at the end of Gray’s Bay, still 20 miles from sea.
Clark estimates they have traveled 4162 miles from the mouth of the Missouri to the Pacific. He estimate, based on dead reckoning, will turn out to be within 40 miles of the actual distance.
Lewis & Clark Map
NOVEMBER 24, 1805NOVEMBER 24, 1805
To make the crucial decision of where to spend the winter, the captains decide to put the matter to a vote.
Significantly, in addition to the others, Clark’s slave, York, is allowed to vote – nearly 60 years before slaves in the U.S. would be emancipated…
Sacagawea, the Indian woman, votes too – more than a century before either women or Indians are granted the full rights of citizenship.
"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."
Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
"The New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises... it is a set of challenges." -- Sen. John F. Kennedy, Los Angeles, 1960
Kennedy brought to the White House the dynamic idea of a “New Frontier” approach in dealing with problems at home, abroad, and in the dimensions of space. Out of his leadership in his first few months in office came the 10-year Alliance for Progress to aid Latin America, the
Peace Corps, and accelerated programs that brought the
first Americans into orbit in the race in space.
For I stand tonight facing west on what was once the last frontier. From the lands that stretch three thousand miles behind me, the pioneers of old gave up their safety, their comfort and sometimes their lives to build a new world here in the West. They were not the captives of their own doubts, the prisoners of their own price tags. Their motto was not "every man for himself"--but "all for the common cause."
…I tell you the New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. Beyond that frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink back from that frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric…
But I believe the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination, decision. I am asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier. My call is to the young in heart, regardless of age…
…for courage--not complacency--is our need today--leadership--not salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously.
Presidential MotorcadePresidential MotorcadePENNSYLVANIA AVENUE JANUARY 20, 1961PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE JANUARY 20, 1961
Robert Frost wrote a new poem entitled "Dedication" for delivery at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961, but never read it, because the sun's glare upon the snow blinded Frost from seeing the text. Instead, he recited "The Gift Outright" from memory.
The Gift OutrightThe land was ours before we were the land's. She was our land more than a hundred years Before we were her people. She was ours In Massachusetts, in Virginia, But we were England's, still colonials, Possessing what we still were unpossessed by, Possessed by what we now no more possessed. Something we were withholding made us weak Until we found out that it was ourselves We were withholding from our land of living, And forthwith found salvation in surrender.. Such as we were we gave ourselves outright (The deed of gift was many deeds of war) To the land vaguely realizing westward, But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced, Such as she was, such as she would become. -- Robert Frost
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it.
I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people of any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.
Pres. Kennedy's Cabinet: (clockwise from lower left)Budget Director David E. Bell; Postmaster General Day, Vice President Johnson, Secretary of Defense McNamara, Secretary of Agriculture
Freeman, Secretary of Labor Goldberg, Secretary of Commerce Hodges, Attorney General Kennedy, Secretary of State Rusk, Pres. Kennedy, Secretary of the Treasury Dillon, Secretary of the Interior
Udall
The President meets with eager young Peace Corps volunteers before they depart for The President meets with eager young Peace Corps volunteers before they depart for Africa.Africa.
We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people… But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
John H. Glenn, Jr.
October 22, 1962, and reports "unmistakable evidence...of offensive missile sites now in preparation...to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere...It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba...as an attack
by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union."
Following the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy gave silver calendars made to his design by Tiffany and Company to those closest to hire
during the thirteen days of the crisis.
On June 11, 1963, the President orders Alabama Governor George Wallace to cease and desist from obstructing black students from attending the University of Alabama. That night, the
President delivers a major televised address on civil rights. "It ought to be possible...for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or color."
In August, leaders of the March on Washington, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Roy In August, leaders of the March on Washington, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Roy Wilkins, meet to discuss civil rights. Wilkins, meet to discuss civil rights.
But Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment: "Stay, thou art so fair." And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.
"If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the
world would be a little better place in which to live." --Sen. John F. Kennedy, Address at
Harvard University, 1956
"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me.
The carriage held but just ourselves, And immortality." ---Emily Dickinson
The oval office of President Kennedy, now vacant and silent.The oval office of President Kennedy, now vacant and silent.
But I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high--to permit the customary passions of political debate.
We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.
Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do…
It is a time, in short, for a new generation of leadership--new men to cope with new problems and new opportunities.
But I tell you the New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not… we stand on this frontier at a turning-point in history. Are we up to the task--are we equal to the challenge?
That is the question of the New Frontier.
All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world looks to see what we will do.
We cannot fail their trust,
we cannot fail to try.
History will be History will be our proofour proof
For a century we labored to settle and to subdue a continent. For half a century we called upon unbounded invention and untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people.
The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.
Your imagination, your initiative, and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth. For in your time we have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful
society, but upward to the Great Society .
The Great Society is a place where The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his enrich his mind and to enlarge his
talents.talents.
A… place to build the Great Society is in the classrooms of America. There your children's lives will be shaped. Our society will not be great until every young mind is set free to scan the farthest
reaches of thought and imagination. We are still far from that goal.
Today, 8 million adult Americans, more than the
entire population of Michigan, have not finished 5 years of school. Nearly 20 million have not finished
8 years of school. Nearly 54 million -- more than one quarter of all America -- have not even finished
high school.
Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college
because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot educate today's youth, what will we do in 1970
when elementary school enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960? And high school enrollment will rise by 5 million. College enrollment will increase
by more than 3 million.
Poverty must not be a bar to learning, and learning must offer an escape from poverty.
We must seek an educational system which grows in excellence as it grows in size…
Woodrow Wilson once wrote: "Every man sent out from his university should be a man of his Nation as
well as a man of his time."
For better or for worse, your generation has been appointed by history to deal with those problems and
to lead America toward a new age…
Will you join in the battle to build the Great Society…
Those who came to this land sought to build more than just a new country. They sought a new world... So let us from this moment begin our work so that in the future men will look back and say: It was then, after a long and weary way, that man turned the
exploits of his genius to the full enrichment of his life.
FACTS about this decade. •Population 177,830,000 •Unemployment 3,852,000 •National Debt 286.3 Billion •Average Salary $4,743 •Teacher's Salary $5,174 •Minimum Wage $1.00 •Life Expectancy: Males 66.6 years, Females 73.1 years •Auto deaths 21.3 per 100,000 •An estimated 850,000 "war baby" freshmen enter college; emergency living quarters are set up in dorm lounges, hotels and trailer camps.
Malcolm X(1925–1965)
"...The American Journey has not ended. The dream is never accomplished. America is always still to build. For men, as long as they are truly men, will dream of man's fulfillment."
Archibald MacLeash Sweet Land of Liberty1964-65 Worlds Fair – New York City
Blazing a New Frontier Lewis & Clark represent the explorers in all of us. They left out of St. Louis on that spring afternoon and “proceeded under a jentle brease up the Missourie”. The map, which they used, had written across the space into which they launched “The Unknown”. We too launch into the unknown each day. We grasp at opportunities to learn HOW to do our jobs, but many times we miss the opportunities to understand WHY. In 1805, President Jefferson wrote these words about that great unknown on the map: "We shall delineate with correctness the great arteries of this great country: those who come after us will . . . fill up the canvas we begin." Pioneers would follow after Lewis & Clark to fill in those great unknown spaces from east to west. President Lincoln would lead us as we restored the chasm between North & South and 100 years later a new voice would inspire us to see a New Frontier. He challenged us to choose… “between public interest and private comfort – between the fresh air of progress and the stale, dank atmosphere of “normalcy” – between determined dedication and creeping mediocrity.” Another would follow in his footsteps and offer us the “Great Society”. Out of these men came legislation that would, in the mid-1960’s, give us the Higher Education Act that still governs our profession today. Though bound with 7000+ regulations in an ever-changing profession we persevere. We hold a light to the path of the American dream. “We set sail on…a …new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.” And so, one more time into the great unknown; one more time to set our compass to the future and our goals high… “not only because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone… Are we up to the task--are we equal to the challenge?… That is the question of the New Frontier… All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world looks to see what we will do. We cannot fail their trust, we cannot fail to try.” And so I submit to you my fellow explorers, will we rest in Tranquility Bay satisfied with the footprints we once left in history? Will that “one small step for man” be our crowning achievement or will we press on? We hold the financial keys to the future… to the knowledge locked inside our “ivy-covered” walls. Columbus sought the Northwest Passage and landed in a New World. Lewis & Clark sought the same thing and opened up a new frontier. Knowledge is the next frontier. May we set sail “under a jentle breaze” and take the next “giant leap for mankind”.
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